Korea is a model for inter-faith harmony

This Feb. 14 1997 photo shows Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan and Ven. Beop Jeong greeting each other when the cardinal visited an opening service at the Buddhist Kilsangsa temple in northern Seoul. The religious climate of Korea today is the result of the religious disposition of the Korean people. Koreans have actively accepted foreign religions and creatively transformed them, meshing with their own indigenous ones. / Korea Times file

By Chun Ock-bae

The 20th century was the bloodiest century in human history. It is a shame that many have killed or been killed due to religious strife. Samuel P. Huntington, a famous political scientist, insisted that the 'Clash of Civilization' might bring more disasters in the 21st century, especially from religious conflicts.

Huntington believed that while the age of ideology had ended, the world had only reverted to a normal state of affairs characterized by cultural conflict. In his thesis, he argued that the primary axis of conflict in the future would be along cultural and religious lines.

Religion is an absolute belief-system and also an ultimate value-system. Accordingly, contemporary multi-religious society constitutes a situation where many absolute beliefs and ultimate values co-exist. Thus, there are potential dangers of conflicts in a multi-religious situation.

A religious conflict could lead to a religious war, which is the most ugly and dangerous kind of war.

Therefore, the potential danger posed in multi-religious situations should be overcome one way or another.

Here we need inter-religious dialogue and understanding more urgently than in any other time. Professor Max Mueller, the greatest scholar in religion, defines that "To know one religion is to know none."

Mutual understanding through inter-faith dialogue is the only solution to settle religious conflicts arising from the misunderstanding of other religions. All religions enrich their own faith by understanding their neighbors.

Inter-religious friendship

The inter-religious friendship and understanding between Catholic Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan and Buddhist Master Beop Jeong is a well-known story, which reflects the inter-religious harmony and dialogue in Korea.

Cardinal Kim sometimes visited Buddhist temples and gave sermons while venerable Beop Jeong visited cathedrals often for his Dharma talks.

On top of that, Christian churches and Buddhist temples have exchanged greetings on each other’s holy days in recent years. On Christmas day, the Buddhist Jogye Order officially congratulated the coming of Christ on Christmas, while the Catholic Church sent a congratulatory message to the Buddhist order for the birth of the Buddha. It shows that the spirit of inter-religious dialogue and peaceful co-existence has spread among religious society in Korea.

Since 1998, Korean religious society has decided to use the more friendly term of ‘neighbor religion’ instead of ‘other religion’ when they refer to different faiths.

The Korean Conference on Religion and Peace (KCRP) has organized lecture programs to help educate youths as well as religious leaders for a better understanding of neighbor religions.

Another example of inter-religious friendship and dialogue is an organization called ‘Samsohoe’ (the Association of Three Nuns), which was established in 1988. Catholic, Buddhist and Won-Buddhist nuns have developed regular inter-faith dialogue and meetings for diverse social activities in local communities.

Religious Diversity

For the scholars who are interested in religious pluralism and inter-faith dialogue, the Korean peninsula is a fascinating country to study and explore.

The spectrum of religious beliefs and practices in Korea is far wider than almost any other place on earth. Some scholars say that Korea is “the museum of all religions".

Also Korea has been considered as a good example of inter-religious dialogue in this age of religious conflicts occurring everywhere around the world.

In Korea, there has been no single religion to lead Korean society yet. Although various religions coexist, no religion has taken a representative position.

There are numerous religions from the East to the West, from the ancient to contemporary. Korea enjoys one of the most complex and diverse religious cultures.

Just by walking the streets of Korea's cities and towns (and looking at the signs on the buildings around you), you can find ample evidence of this religious diversity.

The first thing you will notice is the dominance of many churches and cathedrals along the streets and alleys. South Korea is the third largest Christian country in Asia, behind the Philippines and East Timor.

An attentive observer would also notice the resurgence of urban Buddhism. Korean temples, traditionally, are situated in the mountains. However, on the busy streets of Gangnam area in Seoul, you can find one of the biggest temples, Bongeun temple for a templestay.

Neungin Seonwon, the biggest temple in Korea, is also situated at the heart of the city. Close attention to the signs on homes, offices, and apartment buildings will reveal that shamanism is also alive and well. Though the offices of shamans lack the architectural distinctiveness of Christian churches and Buddhist temples, they can be identified by reverse swastikas (Buddhist emblem for auspiciousness, which originated in ancient India) on building walls.

Religious Plurality

Korean religion is a kind of reservoir in which many classical religions are preserved in almost original form. This can be understood easily from the Mahayana Buddhist practice system in monasteries, the continuous practice of Confucian rituals, the long-lasting influence of Shamanism and the fundamental belief of Protestantism.

Korean religious history shows dual attitudes toward other religions. One is the exclusive tendency of individual religions to maintain their identities. The other is the inclusive attitude, to recognize the co-existence and co-operation with other religions.

Although there are some examples of exclusivism in Korean history, it was the general inclination to opt for inclusivism and syncretism. With the exception of a few short periods, Korean religions have demonstrated openness to other religions, irrespective of doctrinal differences.

It seems that one of the ideals of Korean culture may be the attainment of harmony and unity beyond religious differences. The goal of Korean culture has been the driving force to integrate the traditional customs with foreign cultures.

History of Inter-religious Movement

Religions have been regarded by Koreans as a means for the unification of the nation and its people. Despite the co-existence of so many religions, Korean history has never witnessed a national split caused by religious differences. Rather, religions have united to safeguard the nation when faced with a crisis.

During the Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945), the religious leaders of Korea cooperated to play a key role in the independence movement irrespective of whatever religions they belong to, especially the March First Independence movement in 1919.

It is significant that the indigenous religion, Cheondo-gyo (literary meaning the Religion of Heavenly Way), played a pivotal role in this movement.

Later, under the military authoritarian government in the 1960s, the religious communities initiated the various democratization struggles. Among them, harmonious efforts through dialogue by the Christian Academy deserve particular attention.

They opened the pro-democracy movement by helping to bring workers, students and intellectuals together in dialogue. We may say that the Christian Academy sowed the seeds of modern inter-religious dialogue in Korea

The Christian Academy played a central role for the birth of the Association of Religion in Korea (ARK). The ARK was the largest inter-religious organization, the members of which represent Confucianism, Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Won-Buddhism, Cheondo-gyo, Unification Church and Islam.

Its purpose is to overcome conflicts among different religions, to solve social problems such as the unification of South and North Korea, and to take part in reaching world peace. For such a purpose, it practices an inter-religious dialogue movement, national unification movements and international cooperation among religions.

The third Asian Conference on Religion and Peace (ACRP) general meeting in Seoul in 1986 created momentum for revitalizing the spirit of inter-faith harmony. Leaders of six religions (Confucianism, Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Won-Buddhism, and Cheondo-gyo) prepared the general meeting together.

They organized the Korean Conference on Religion and Peace (KCRP) as a channel for inter-faith dialogue and cooperation.

Its aim is to promote exchanges and cooperation among people of different religions and to accomplish a better society by carrying out common tasks not only in, but also outside of Korea. Later the Association of Native Religions in Korea joined the KCRP, consisting of seven religions as its members.

In short, the purpose of this united organization is to promote dialogue and mutual understanding and to cope with diverse social problems such as environmental pollution, drugs, and prostitution. In 1993 the KCRP held a great congregation meeting on the subject of “Religions and Ecological Ethics,” and issued a manifesto on ecological ethics.

Society of harmony

In terms of cultural and social points of view, religion can be described as an absolute belief system. Therefore, the co-existence of many religions means that many absolute belief systems are also co-existing.

An absolute belief system inevitably causes conflict due to the claim of its absoluteness. Such conflicts can be overcome only when a sound relationship is established among the different belief systems. That’s the reason we need inter-faith dialogue and understanding between different belief systems.

The religious climate of Korea today is the result of the religious disposition of the Korean people.

Koreans have actively accepted foreign religions and creatively transformed them, meshing with their own indigenous ones.

Furthermore, Koreans have never lost their positive, passionate and practical sensibility in terms of religious acceptability. As a result, they came to possess multi-leveled belief and practices, throwing off religious dogmas, and developed harmonious and generous attitudes toward different religions.

In the coming years the inter-religious dialogue in Korea is expected to continue to develop, with the active participation of all seven major faiths.

This will surely lead the nation along the road toward the unification of the two Koreas through common efforts for peace and reconciliation beyond the ideological barrier between the South and the North.

Who is the writer?

Chun Ock-bae graduated from Korea University’s law department and studied comparative religion at Dongguk University Graduate School. He is currently working as a researcher at Dongguk University in the field of inter-religious dialogue.

He has written many papers and articles on inter-religious dialogue and joined the inter-faith movement. He is translating many Korean religious texts, including Confucian and Buddhist ones, into English.

He was once a Christian. Now he researches various kinds of traditional Korean religions such as Confucianism, Shamanism, Taoism and the indigenous Cheondo-gyo. His research area also includes the comparison between Christianity and Buddhism.

Overview of religions
Korea is a good example of a modern religiously pluralistic society in the world. All kinds of religions harmoniously co-exist here without major conflicts.

The statistics of all the religious populations show that more than half of the population identifies themselves as belonging to a religion and are engaged in some form of religious activities on a regular basis.

Traditional shamanism, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, and other new religions such as Won Buddhism, Cheondo-gyo and Jeungsan-gyo are the main religions practiced in Korea. In modern Korea, no one religion has ever led society.

Although various religions coexist, no one has taken a representative position. There are numerous religions from the East to the West, from the ancient to the contemporary. It is a defining characteristic of Korean religions to coexist with one another without any one faith leading.

Traditionally shamanism is one of the most active religions in Korea. Confucianism has also had a powerful influence upon ordinary people. Buddhism was the state religion for almost a thousand years, even though there were some ups and downs during its 1,700-year history in Korea. Recently, Korean Christianity has rapidly grown for the past 100 years. The Korean Christian church has become one of the five major missionary churches in the world.

Fundamentally Korean people have open-minded and active attitudes toward religion. The motives of harmony and reconciliation are predominant throughout Korean religious history, and despite a few exceptions like the persecution of Catholicism in the 19th century during Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), all foreign religions took root in Korean. Buddhism and Confucianism were welcomed as state religions, and they had a powerful influence on the life of Korean people. Protestantism was also positively accepted 100 years ago, and contributed to the modernization of Korean society.

Characteristics of inter-faith harmony
The term inter-faith dialogue refers to cooperative and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional level, with the aim of deriving a common ground in belief through a concentration on similarities between faiths, understanding of values and commitment to the world.

Inter-faith dialogue and action has taken place for many centuries. The history of religion shows conflict has been a more common state of affairs than dialogue. Inter-faith dialogue and harmony is urgently required at this time when the religious conflicts are prevalent around the globe, causing continuous wars across generations. Some historians say that the history of the war can be called 'the war of religion' caused by various kinds of religious conflicts. Violent religious conflicts are underway everywhere around the world.

Traditionally, religion has been regarded by Koreans as a means for the unification of the nation and its people. Despite the co-existence of so many religions, Korean history has never witnessed a national split caused by religious differences. Rather, religions have united to safeguard the nation when faced with a crisis. During the Japanese colonial rule, the religious leaders of Korea cooperated to play a key role in the independence movement irrespective of the religions they belong to, especially the March First Independence movement in 1919. It is significant that the indigenous religion, Cheondo-gyo played a leading role in this movement.

The third Asian Conference on Religion and Peace (ACRP) general meeting in Seoul in 1986 created positive momentum for revitalizing the spirit of inter-faith harmony. Leaders of six religions (Confucianism, Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Won-Buddhism, and Cheondo-gyo) prepared for the general meeting together. They organized the Korean Conference on Religion and Peace (KCRP) as a channel for inter-faith dialogue and cooperation.